YuGiOh!: Prerecorded History
by MarkMachine
Summary: Trying to be the best of the best at anything requires nothing less than 100% of what you're capable of. Natasha Chapel attempts to give just that in a dueling world traditionally dominated by the boys.
1. City of Millstone, Meet Natasha Chapel

Yu-Gi-Oh!: Prerecorded History

A story that chronicles Natasha's creation of Clan Prime as well as Lamar Vega's ascension to the title of King of Games

_Author's note - Something compelled me to get around to publishing this old story that's come with the various computers and laptops i've owned over the years. As it states, this is a prequel to the story YuGiOh: Future History. This should get you knowledgeable about some of the other characters to my series. My stories generally don't get many reviews, but i think i write these days more for me than for fans or followers. Reviews and critiques are welcome and appreciated._

_This story, insofar as its dueling, uses the anime rule of 4000 Life Points as opposed to 8000._

_The teen rating is for some mild swearing. Hope you enjoy the story._

TWO YEARS PRIOR TO FUTURE HISTORY

Natasha stifled a mighty yawn that wanted to escape her lips and unleashed her morning breath on the pillow trying to plug her ears from the alarm clock. Seeing that it wasn't going to work, she slammed her palm down repeatedly on top of the digital alarm clock, hoping to slap some button to stop the noise. The morning newscasters she heard were far too awake for her taste.

"Hotel radios…" she mumbled, "…suck."

Five minutes later, since she hadn't moved and was welcoming sleep again, the radio blared with an advertisement for male enhancement. Her hand came down upon the radio again and with one slap, it was silent again.

"Where's the drug for male cranium enlargement…" she mumbled, laughing to herself, "With a side effect of reduced instances of stupidity?"

Untangling herself from the covers, Natasha slipped out of bed. Her blonde hair looked more like a briar patch and her face silently screamed for a hot shower, which is where she was heading. She wore a loose t-shirt and boy boxer shorts as her 'nightie' ensemble.

"Sweet bliss…" she murmured, pushing open the door. She'd taken one step onto the cool, white tile before she heard an odd sound above her and didn't even get to look up before icy water fell from a hotel icebucket and drenched her. If the male enhancement commercial wasn't enough to wake her up, this loud, shrill scream that blasted from her lungs was.

In the living room, this scream was heard by all.

"What the…?" went one voice sleepily.

"You actually did it?" went another voice with concern. Obviously for their health.

"Did what?" went a third voice, with a hint of mock sarcasm.

Nothing else got said before the door to the living room snapped open with a positively furious Natasha Chapel standing before her guests in an open white cloth robe that was supposed to help warm the body, but her irritation was doing wonders all on its own. She was still soaked, though at this rate, that water could turn to steam off her body.

"Somebody…is…going…to…die…today!"

Natasha growled, gritting her teeth and stomping forward with a dinosaur like pace toward a singular form on a couch that was standing still. Natasha pounced on the form and felt her body crush against something a lot softer than a human body should've been. She felt rather than saw that there was a couple pillows under that blanket. Rising over the edge of the couch, she saw her target stand before her. Natasha looking up at her, and Ginger looking down at her.

"Ginger…" Natasha growled, feeling her damp body start to soak the blanket and pillows below it.

"Good morning, girlfriend!" Ginger chirped. Ginger was a fairly young girl, only 15 but really sweet. But she was also quite the troublemaker, too. If she didn't have the dyed blonde hair and instead went with her natural red, then it'd make perfect sense. A couple of times, Natasha wondered why she didn't go with her natural look. She had short, wavy blonde hair that probably would refuse to move in a wind tunnel with the way she treated it. But she was on the short side and probably stood no higher than five feet tall without shoes on.

"Good morning, girlfriend." Natasha mumbled copying Ginger's almost melodic greeting. "I suppose you know nothing."

"That's right." Ginger quipped, clasping her hands behind her back and standing on her toes. She'd gone to bed in a light pink pajama set that had various types of fruits on it, mostly raspberries and strawberries.

"And I suppose you think I'm trying to kill you for no reason?" Natasha said, smirking slightly and trying to readjust her body without being noticed.

"Hmm…I think you have a reason." Ginger said with a bright smile.

Natasha lunged at Ginger from the couch, who put her hands up in mock defense as she fell to the ground but Natasha was half on top of her and half draped over the end of the couch. Natasha tousled with her like that for a few minutes, their giggles drawing her other guests out from under their covers.

"I was sure you would've killed her." Penny said, smiling at the two.

Natasha pushed herself up so she wasn't draped over the couch like a throw rug or a kid needing a spanking and looked over at Penny. "Like you didn't have a hand in it, Penny."

Penny was Natasha's second guest. Penny was a blonde kind of like Ginger but she was a natural. She was a bit taller than Ginger, but not by much, and had a sparse sprinkling of freckles around the bridge of her 15 year old nose. Nice hazel eyes and a ferocious mane of well cared for blonde locks. And almost with it came that blonde mentality. In short, Penny was boy crazy. She would always have her nose in a Teen Teen Cosmopolitan or Tiger Beat or any of those other magazines that did nothing but show off either celebrities or have pictures of men she drooled over.

"Well…no, but at least you got a head start on your shower!" Penny reasoned.

Natasha tried to blow a wet strand of blonde hair out of her face with little success. "Girl, you were the one needing a shower last night, hooting and hollering about WWE this, wrestlers that and…whoever."

Penny lost herself for a moment, her eyes becoming dreamy and glassy. "WWE is my fix…"

"Oh, Lord…" Natasha began, looking toward the sky, or in this case, the white ceiling of her hotel room. "Was I really once like that?"

Natasha looked at Penny and could see that her words hadn't reached her. Somewhere off in her mind, Penny and the flavor of the day were probably running through a field of white flowers together hand in hand. Or maybe something more lucid like heading for a hotel room of their own.

"Someone's being pretty quiet." Natasha said of her third guest.

"Huh? Oh, sorry." came the typically quiet reply.

"Come on, Jan. You're apologizing for being quiet?" Natasha laughed.

Janet Rush seemed to blush and try to lower herself into her chest. Janet was a 16 year old girl that seemed to have shyness like some people have diseases; incurable. She was the lone non-blonde in the room having short brown hair that she parted down the left side of her face, letting some bangs hang just over her eyebrows. Whereas Penny's eyes were hazel, Janet's were brown that almost matched her hair. She was second tallest in the group, standing taller than Penny and Ginger but just a notch lower than Natasha.

Natasha could see it on her face that if she could've, Janet would've apologized for apologizing. She let out a heartfelt sigh. "You know, Jan, I think I need to get some of Penny to rub off on you. Maybe a boyfriend would do you some good."

Janet looked up with a wide eyed look at Natasha, but saw her wink playfully at her. It still didn't stop the rapid beating of her heart any. They all knew of Janet's aversion to boys which was a complete flip-flop of Penny. Natasha joked, "But knowing Penny, she'd probably try to steal him from ya."

Penny stood up, feigned like she'd been shot with an arrow to the heart. She collapsed on the couch with her tongue dangling lazily off the side of her mouth and her eyes rolled up into her head.

Natasha covered her mouth with a small giggle. "Come on, Jan, you know I'm just teasing you."

Janet smiled a bit. "I know, but you guys know I don't do well with boys."

Natasha stood and stretched out a bit. "You keep beating them in duels, Jan."

Janet innocently asked what that has to do with it.

Natasha smirked, "Well, maybe eventually, you'll find a knucklehead that doesn't throw a girl fit when he loses to a girl."

After settling the argument that arose between the four about who'd get the shower first, Natasha was heading back to the bathroom hearing grumbles of 'I knew it was a bad idea,' and 'I hope the hotel ran out of hot water,' as parting shots.

_The glamorous life of a tournament duelist, getting pranked on and arguing for first dibs on the shower_, she thought to herself as she threw her soaked garments aside. _C'est la vie._

* * *

><p>About an hour later, they'd all gotten a chance to use the shower individually, get dressed and have some breakfast that they'd ordered the night previous via room service.<p>

Now they were sitting around the living area. Natasha had disentangled her hair and tied it into a ponytail. It would normally hang a little ways past her shoulders behind her but she liked to have it hang off her shoulder in front of her body. She slipped on some comfortable white tennis shoes and a pair of loose tan capris. No belt, but she had looped a deck holder through one of the belt loops on her right hip. A form fitting sleeveless white t-shirt completed her tomboy-ish like outfit.

Penny decided to dress much like she had yesterday, like she was hunting for boys. She decided to let her hair flow free just past her neck. She'd decided to go with a pair of blue jeans that had small patches that let flashes of her legs peek through. Like Natasha, she'd gone for a sleeveless form-fitting shirt but hers had been tied into a knot so it exposed her midriff. It also had a stenciled in image of a lipstick print across her bust. She also had a small purse with her that carried, among other things, a variety of perfumes.

Ginger had picked out a light red basketball top that seemed to just hover on her small frame with a black tank top on beneath it that peeked through even with the smaller than normal armholes. She tucked that into a pair of cutoff jeans that hugged against her small body. It was the same with just about any outfit the girl put together, it elicited 'cute' before you thought of 'pretty'.

Janet had pulled out a modest blue jeans skirt that hung to mid-thigh and had pulled on a matching vest. The outfit was designed for the vest to be worn like a top but it would expose her midriff so she wore a tan shirt below it and kept the vest open. She fitted the skirt with a black belt and looped a deck holder through it. The tan in the shirt made one notice her brown eyes and short, collar length hair.

Natasha caught Janet looking and holding her deck while in the middle of their conversation.

"Still thinking about that first match from yesterday?" Natasha asked.

Janet looked up then dejectedly looked back at her deck holder.

"Well, don't let it get you down too much. You're certainly not the first to lose in the first round of a tournament, Jan." Natasha said, trying to comfort her with a small smile.

Janet had nodded meekly but then was mugged by Ginger, draping herself over the timid duelist. "But you're one of the first girls to make it to the national tournament level!" she exclaimed happily.

"And the first out of the two that got knocked out." Penny added with no sympathy. Ginger stuck her tongue out at her and looked down at Janet.

"Maybe I wish I could've breezed through the first day like Natasha did." Janet said. "I mean, I had to duel in a playoff because me and another guy were tied for one of the last spots in the tournament. And I won to only get knocked out in the first game."

Natasha let loose one haughty laugh to the winds. "Those duels weren't a breeze, Jan! A lot of those guys were good!"

Penny moaned, "Too bad they all look like dorks. Can't there be one grown and cute duelist in this whole thing?"

Ginger jacked her thumb at Natasha. Penny looked at Ginger then back at Natasha. She'd been lost for a second but when she picked up on the lame joke Ginger hit her with she scowled, "Ha ha, very funny. I mean a _man_, Ginger!"

Janet looked over at Natasha who was watching her two friends bicker a bit. "Natasha? Aren't you nervous?"

"Hmm?" Natasha hummed, crossing her legs.

"I mean, all you need to do is win your duel today and you'll be in the finals. How can you not be that tense? Aren't you scared?" Janet asked.

Natasha stood up to look at the three of them. "I guess I'm just a natural at not showing it. Truth be told? I _am_ nervous. But being nervous won't help much when I go to my match. And speaking of which…"

Natasha glanced at a digital clock on the wall telling her it was time to head downstairs. She slung the small bag carrying her gaming mats, calculators, dice and tokens as well as some snacks over her shoulder. She headed for the door with Janet, Penny and Ginger following.

Upperdeck was a gracious enough host that they picked up the tab for the participants in the final rounds of their national championships, or Duel King Tournament as it was officially recognized. The final sixteen duelists got to stay for free, aside from their own charges, in a decent hotel while the competition played out over two days. In the day previous, Natasha had to beat out some stiff competition to make her way through. In her first match of the day, she easily overcame an early deficit by 2000 Life Points to beat her competitor using a burner-style deck. Sacrificing tokens and easily summoned monsters via cards like Cannon Soldier for quick damage while protecting themselves with Messenger of Peace and Gravity Bind. She beat her opponent by taking advantage of that deck's weakness, low hand cards and no quality attack worthy monsters. Her second opponent used a very unique deck type that she really couldn't put a name to. He used low level normal monsters and some of their power-ups and specialty cards like Triangle Power to punish duelists using higher level monsters, but they also combined it with cards like Level Limit – Area B and, similarly to her previous opponent, Gravity Bind. But once she managed to get one of her own strong monsters to the field, even her opponent's highly enhanced monsters couldn't stand against her.

This led Natasha to the second day. She and her friends entered the banquet hall which had been transformed into a large dueling area. As the day went on and the competition got thinner and thinner in ranks, you saw less tables and fewer duelists. Now, in the second and final day, there were only two tables set up. One for one pair of opponents and another for another pair of opponents, set up nearby each other.

Natasha approached the barriers that separated the duelists from the spectators. The man tending the divider remembered her and allowed her to pass. Natasha looked back at her friends and gave them a thumbs up before walking over to a small lounge area within the duelists' area but separate from the spectators. Her match was supposed to start a little later but she had arrived early. But then she noticed another guy heading for that same area.

She noticed him as one of the duelists that would be at the second table and not hers. A guy she'd learned who was named Will. In her mind, this guy Will was one fairly tough duelist. She'd been busy working her own duels but aside from his opponent, he was talked about as being the one to beat. A very strong machine deck was his choice and it had allowed him to get up to this point.

The two of them sat in the lounge but aside from greetings and casual small talk, they didn't speak. Natasha realized that Will might be thinking the same thing she was, there was a chance they would end up dueling each other within a few short hours. No point in throwing off your focus.

Another young man walked into the lounge and took a seat. This one, Natasha remembered, was going to be her opponent and silently tried to bite back any nervousness she'd felt.

"Hey, baby doll." the guy named Ken said to her, offering a cocky wink.

All of a sudden, as she felt the heat rising in her cheeks, it became less difficult for her to be nervous. She only glared at the kid, obviously younger than her. That wasn't much to say, since she was the oldest duelist left in the tournament. She also didn't say anything to him, not wanting to have it out with him.

Then a small hush came over a little part of the crowd. Natasha lifted her gaze and saw the same man that had let her pass allow in a young African-American kid that walked their way. It was Will's opponent, who would be at the table opposite her. His black hair was neatly stylized into cornrows. Natasha recalled his name as Lamar, but this kid had won a prestigious private tournament that she'd read about not long before now. The C.G. Invitational was a tournament that more than most hoped for entry to as it was invitation only. Some of the best duelists throughout the world were invited to attend. And he was basically an unknown; no one had known of him or what kind of skill he had to get in. But he won it handily, beating some of the world's best. More people called and recognized him by his last name than his first because of it. Lamar Vega.

She watched the kid stride past them all to take a seat for himself but before he could seat himself, the cocky kid named Ken uttered out, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…"

Natasha couldn't see Vega's face but as he took a seat and turned his face so he could see them all, he just smirked at Ken and said amusedly with a genuine smile, "You're unquestionably certain of yourself."

Ken threw his hands behind his head and relaxed into his chair. "I been here before. I even saw this other guy, Will, here before. But it's the first time I ever seen you at this level. Or a girl."

"Get used to seeing me here, and I'm not your doll." Natasha sassed.

"The same goes here." Vega added, looking at the girl and nodding with respect.

Ken shook his head in disagreement to Vega. "You're a flash in the pan, kid."

Now, what Vega took to be good-natured bickering turned a little more personal. With a steady voice, he asked just what he means by that. Ken hadn't seen his reaction, seemingly focused elsewhere, but he said, "It's just as I said, no more, no less. I mean, you're completely new to the Duel King Tournament. A first time registrant that made his way to the national level. Just where were you beforehand, searching for all the luck you used to get this far?"

Vega let his hand stray to his right side where a deck holder rested. "Training. Learning from a great duelist."

"Like who?" Ken scoffed. "Darrin Ledger?"

Vega countered with some venom saying, "He wasn't available. Me and my tutor went by your girlfriend's house. So nice of her to allow us in."

Natasha sat back, seeing that Vega and Ken were getting a little annoyed with each other. Natasha had certainly heard of that name before. As far as she and most others were concerned, Darrin Ledger was the closest thing the game of Yu-Gi-Oh! had to a juggernaut. But with his impressive tournament resume of winning both the Duel King Tournament and the C.G. Invitational, there had been talk of him entering a slump. That kind of talk was further fueled by the fact that he hadn't attended the very same C.G. Invitational that Vega won and he was also absent from this current Duel King Tournament as well. Even though she felt as though she'd lose in an instant, she'd love the chance to take on such a player like Darrin Ledger.

But before more could be said between Ken and Vega, a woman was motioning for them to come toward the two tables they'd set up for them. Natasha grabbed her sack and walked along with the other duelists. Before, the tables were just bare. Now they'd been covered with a nice white tablecloth for each and now some camera equipment was set up around the area. The first thing Natasha noticed about these cameras was that there were a pair that were suspended above the tables. This offered a bird's eye view and the more preferred viewing angle of watching a duel. Then there were three other for each table, making six in total. Four of those cameras were pointed squarely at the chairs they'd be sitting in. The other two were looking at an angled view of the table to compliment the aerial view.

Silently they were lead to their respective seats and Natasha sat down across from Ken, taking her deck mat out and laying it across her side of the table whilst Ken did the same. She noticed with a small bit of gratitude that he wasn't talking smack. Perhaps the situation was starting to sink into all of them. She'd been quiet, as well as Ken. Vega was as well, and his opponent Will hadn't said much of anything at all since she first saw him.

Natasha had noticed that there had been screens set up so that people that couldn't see over the crowd that were surrounding them could watch the duels. She assumed correctly that those cameras she'd noticed before were showing all their moves to them. As she sat down and set up her duel mat and deck, she saw her hands doing so on a few screens around the room. She looked up to see Ken sit down in front of her, who was doing the same on his side of the table. Natasha looked over to her adjoining table to see Vega and Will exchanging some small talk and gave each other a firm handshake and smile before sitting down.

As they had been told before, the organizers wanted them to shake hands before the duel started but over the table so everyone could see. A showing of good will and good character. So as they were given the go ahead to start, Vega and Will once again shook hands and somewhat grudgingly Natasha extended her hand to Ken who obliged her with that annoying smirk on his face. Natasha picked up the top five cards from her deck and set them to the side while she reached into her sack to pull out a silver dollar.

"Call it." Natasha said. She watched Ken lean out of his seat to his right and look at something on the floor. Natasha followed his gaze and just as she noticed he was looking at her hip, she heard him elect 'Tails'. Natasha rolled her eyes at the young boy trying to act suave on her and flipped the silver dollar with a flick of her thumb. It bounced slightly and landed on heads.

"I'll go first." she said, picking up her five cards and drawing a sixth. Ken nodded. Natasha couldn't help but notice that smirk he wore was gone. _Good, maybe now he'll focus and stop being such a dick._

If she'd known, both she and him were sharing similar thoughts. Both had heard a bit of what their opponent's decks were about. Natasha had heard that Ken ran a gadget deck, and it was rumored to even have a couple of Ancient Gear Golems in there as well. Ken had heard about Natasha and her Shining Flare Wingman deck, which fit with the popular theme of E-Hero fusions of the time. But something he also heard was that it was more quirky than others. One person claimed she used the Trap Card Reckless Greed which, as its name suggested, was reckless. But the both of them also were aggressive players and shared another thought that they weren't about to play conservative against the other.

"I'll summon Elemental Hero Woodsman (1000/2000) in defense mode." Natasha said, placing the card down on her mat horizontally.

**Elemental Hero Woodsman  
><strong>**Attrib: Earth  
><strong>**Type: Warrior/Effect  
><strong>**Level:4  
><strong>**Atk: 1000  
><strong>**Def: 2000  
><strong>**Once per turn, during your Standby Phase, you can add 1 "Polymerization" from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand.**

Natasha placed another card from her hand into her Spell/Trap Card Zone. "I'll set one reverse card and end it."

Ken thought to himself, _the best way to spring a trap is to attack it with another trap._ He picked up a card from his hand, trying to resist the urge to smile. It'd give him away in a heartbeat.

"I'll summon Boot Up Soldier – Dread Dynamo (0/2000)…in attack mode." Ken said in as normal a tone as he could.

**Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo  
><strong>**Attrib: Earth  
><strong>**Type: Machine/Effect  
><strong>**Level:4  
><strong>**Atk: 0  
><strong>**Def: 2000  
><strong>**While you have a face-up "Gadget" monster on your side of the field, this card gains 2000 ATK.**

It hardly mattered that he tried to. The spectators watching all started to talk among themselves at this move, filling the once semi-quiet hall with chatter.

_Does he plan to go offensive right now?_ Natasha wondered to herself. _He might be thinking of special summoning a gadget. Even if he did, it'd only make Dread Dynamo tie Woodsman (1000/2000) in defense power. He'll need something else to overpower it. That's a lot of cards to use on the first turn._

Ken picked out two cards from his hand and laid them into his Spell/Trap Card Zone. "I'll set two reverse cards. Your move."

Natasha silently picked up her card, now feeling hundreds of eyes drill themselves on her and her cards, anticipating her next move. She shifted her hand toward her deck, announcing the effect of Elemental Hero Woodsman while she searched her deck for Polymerization. She found it, added it to her hand cards, gave her deck a shuffle and allowed Ken to cut it before placing it back in its proper place.

"I'll summon Elemental Hero Lady Heat (1300/1000) in attack mode."

**Elemental Hero Lady Heat  
><strong>**Attrib: Fire  
><strong>**Type: Pyro/Effect  
><strong>**Level:4  
><strong>**Atk: 1300  
><strong>**Def: 1000  
><strong>**During each of your End Phases, inflict 200 damage to your opponent for each face-up "Elemental Hero" monster you control.**

"I'll attack." She said, having turned Elemental Hero Woodsman (1000/2000) to attack mode as well. She was anticipating him to pull something and she wasn't disappointed when he flipped one of his reverse cards, Relieve Monster.

**Relieve Monster  
><strong>**Group: Trap Card  
><strong>**Type: Trap  
><strong>**Activate only when your opponent declares an attack. Return 1 monster you control to it's owner's hand, then Special Summon 1 Level 4 monster from your hand.**

"I'll chain your attack." Ken said, calmly picking up Dread Dynamo and adding it to his hand. "From the effect of Relieve Monster, I'll return Dread Dynamo to my hand and special summon Red Gadget (1300/1500) in attack mode."

**Red Gadget  
><strong>**Attrib: Earth  
><strong>**Type: Machine/Effect  
><strong>**Level:4  
><strong>**Atk: 1300  
><strong>**Def: 1500  
><strong>**When you Normal Summon or Special Summon this card, you can add 1 "Yellow Gadget" from your Deck to your hand.**

"And I'll use Red Gadget's effect…" pausing to pick up his deck and begin searching for his monster. He found it and after giving his deck a shuffle, he passed it to Natasha for a cut who declined. Ken shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'I don't care' and placed it back into position.

Natasha scratched her head. _Okay, Lady Heat and Red Gadget both have the same attack strength. That'd be suicide to attack. And even if I know what's probably coming next turn with Dread Dynamo in his hand, I think i want to try to keep as many monsters on the field as possible._ She had picked out a card from her hand when a loud 'whoop' went up from the crowd. She turned to look at one of the screens that showed the duelists' Life Points and whose turn it was and saw that between Vega and Will, Vega had managed to take Will for 2400 of his Life Points already. He was leading with 4000 compared to 1600.

Natasha shifted her eyes but kept her head facing forward so she could catch Vega out of the corner of her eye. _I guess he is pretty good..._

"I'll set one reverse card and in my End Phase, Elemental Hero Lady Heat's effect kicks in. For every Elemental Hero I have on my field, which is two, I can inflict 200 damage to my opponent. That's 400 damage."

NATASHA – 4000

KEN – 3600

"End turn." Natasha said, crossing her arms and waiting for Ken's move. Out in the crowd, she swore she could hear one of her girlfriends yelling something like 'kick ass'.

"Draw." Ken said aloud as he pulled one card from the top of his deck and seemed to eye the reverse cards on Natasha's field. For her part, Natasha followed his gaze and when he looked up into her eyes, she did and said nothing. Ken continued to eye those cards as he slowly picked up a card from his hand and, again, played Boot Up Soldier – Dread Dynamo but in attack mode. From its effect, whenever a gadget monster was on the field, it gained 2000 attack points, making it stronger (2000/2000) than any of Natasha's monsters.

"I'll have Boot Up Soldier – Dread Dynamo (2000/2000) attack Lady Heat (1300/1000)" he announced.

Natasha uncrossed her arms and let her hand in an intentional slow motion drift toward one of her reverse cards, which when she flipped it revealed Hero Counterattack.

**Hero Counterattack  
><strong>**Group: Trap Card  
><strong>**Type: Trap  
><strong>**Activate only when an "Elemental Hero" monster you control is destroyed by battle. Your opponent selects 1 random card from your hand. If that card is an "Elemental Hero" monster, destroy 1 monster your opponent controls, then Special Summon the selected card.**

"I'll chain with Hero Counterattack." Natasha countered, fanning her cards and setting them out in front of her. "Alright, Ken. How's your luck?"

Ken looked at the five cards she offered him and with little hesitation, picked the center card. Natasha obliged him and showed him the card he'd picked, Elemental Hero Burstinatrix. (1200/800)

**Elemental Hero Burstinatrix  
><strong>**Attrib: Fire  
><strong>**Type: Warrior  
><strong>**Level:3  
><strong>**Atk: 1200  
><strong>**Def: 800  
><strong>**A flame manipulator who is the only woman among the Elemental Heroes. Her Burstfire burns away villainy.**

Ken gave a small sigh, realizing he picked poorly and offered her his two monsters to choose from, Red Gadget and Dread Dynamo.

Natasha sat and thought about it a moment. _If I destroy Red Gadget, Dread Dynamo's attack power will go back down to 0 and he'll not have anything that could take down Woodsman this turn...Or do I destroy Dread Dynamo and leave Ken with just a 1300 attack power monster, but one that could still deal me damage if he attacked?_

"I'll destroy Dread Dynamo." Natasha said after a moment. She saw Ken's eyebrow raise slightly at that and he immediately looked to the other reverse card on her field. But he did place Dread Dynamo into the graveyard and, once again, a murmur went up from the crowd at her move. Natasha then placed her special summoned her Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in attack mode while glancing to see the damage she'd taken from the previous battle.

NATASHA – 3300

KEN – 3600

Ken motioned with his hands his intention for Red Gadget (1300/1500) to attack Woodsman. Natasha closed her eyes for a moment, letting her free hand go to her other card. She let it stay that way for a moment, but instead picked up Woodsman and placed it into her graveyard.

NATASHA – 3000

KEN – 3600

"I'll end my turn." Ken said.

Natasha drew and looked at her card, Miracle Fusion. _Might be useful later on,_ she thought to herself. She slipped it into her hand and instead pulled out another monster that she summoned in attack mode, Elemental Hero Avian.

**Elemental Hero Avian  
><strong>**Attrib: Wind  
><strong>**Type: Warrior  
><strong>**Level:3  
><strong>**Atk: 1000  
><strong>**Def: 1000  
><strong>**A winged Elemental Hero who wheels through the sky and manipulates the wind. His signature move, Featherbreak, gives villainy a blow from sky-high.**

Ken and more than a few spectators that were watching all saw both Avian and Burstinatrix on her field and they all knew that Natasha had Polymerization in her hand which she also put down.

**Polymerization  
><strong>**Group: Spell Card  
><strong>**Type: Spell  
><strong>**Send Fusion Material Monsters that are listed by a Fusion Monster Card from your hand or your side of the field to the Graveyard, and Special Summon that Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck.**

The moment she did, another big whoop rang out through the crowd and off her peripheral vision, caught Will and Vega glancing at their table. Natasha made a quick search through her Extra Deck, found the proper monster and set it beside Avian and Burstinatrix.

"I'll play Polymerization to fuse Avian and Burstinatrix into Elemental Hero Flame Wingman. (2100/1200)"

**Elemental Hero Flame Wingman  
><strong>**Attrib: Wind  
><strong>**Type: Warrior/Fusion/Effect  
><strong>**Level:6  
><strong>**Atk: 2100  
><strong>**Def: 1200  
><strong>**"Elemental Hero Avian" + "Elemental Hero Burstinatrix" This monster cannot be Special Summoned except by Fusion Summon. When this card destroys a monster and sends it to the Graveyard as a result of battle, inflict damage to your opponent's Life Points equal to the ATK of the destroyed monster.**

Ken didn't show it outwardly, but just groaned long and low within himself, now seeing why she'd chosen to leave Red Gadget on his field from the last turn. Maybe a lot of people in the audience realized it too, there were more murmurs going around now.

"I'll have Flame Wingman (2100/1200) attack Red Gadget. (1300/1500)" Natasha said, eyeing the remaining reverse card on Ken's field. With a wave of his hand, Ken slid his monster toward the graveyard and calculated the damage.

NATASHA – 3000

KEN – 2800

"And I'll also use it's effect to deal you damage equal to Red Gadget's attack power of 1300." Natasha said, reminding him of the secondary, but no less powerful, effect of Flame Wingman. Ken, for the first time since the duel started, sneered down at his calculator.

NATASHA – 3000

KEN – 1500

"I'll end my-" Natasha tried to finish her statement but couldn't. A great yell went up through the crowd and knowing it wasn't from anything that she did, she automatically turned toward Will and Vega's table to see Vega standing, offering his hand to Will, who was sitting. A glance at the screen displaying their Life Points told the whole story.

WILL – 0

VEGA – 4000

"Unbelievable…" Natasha heard Ken murmur despite himself, as he too watched Vega shake hands with Will, collect all his cards and head back over to the lounge area where a couple of reporters were waiting.

"So much for flash in the pan…" Natasha said, allowing the crowd's noise to mask her voice so she barely heard it herself.

Natasha saw Ken turn back to face her and reminded him it was his move. He picked up his next card. Natasha saw the quick glance he gave to his reverse card and wondered what it was, and more importantly, what it would do to her.

"I'll set two reverse cards." Ken said.

The second he did, Natasha's heart leapt a few dozen feet. Natasha's mindset was that for a duelist to play reverse cards first in a turn was a defensive mentality. Like a duelist, without meaning to, said that he or she expected these cards to defend against their opponent.

Then her heart stopped fluttering as she saw his hand reach for that reverse card that was already on the field.

"I'll flip up Call of the Haunted." Ken said.

**Call Of The Haunted  
><strong>**Group: Trap Card  
><strong>**Type: Trap  
><strong>**Icon:Continuous  
><strong>**Select 1 monster from your Graveyard and Special Summon it in face-up Attack Position. When this card is removed from the field, destroy the monster. When the monster is destroyed, destroy this card.**

"I'll use it to special summon Red Gadget (1300/1500) back to the field." Ken slipped the card back to the field, but just as quickly put it back into the graveyard and instead placed another monster down from his hand in it's place as he explained, "And I'll sacrifice it to summon Ancient Gear Gadgiltron Chimera. (2300/1300)"

**Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Chimera  
><strong>**Attrib: Earth  
><strong>**Type: Machine/Effect  
><strong>**Level:6  
><strong>**Atk: 2300  
><strong>**Def: 1300  
><strong>**If you Tribute Summon this card by Tributing 1 of the following monsters, this card gets the appropriate effect: Green Gadget: This card gains 300 ATK. Red Gadget: If this card successfully attacks your opponent directly, inflict 500 damage to the opponent. Yellow Gadget: If this card destroys your opponent's monster by battle, inflict 700 damage to your opponent.**

Natasha's heart hit bottom.

"I summoned Gadjiltron Chimera with Red Gadget so by its effect, anytime it attacks you directly, I can inflict 500 damage to you. But for now, I'll have it attack Flame Wingman (2100/1200)"

Natasha desperately wanted her last reverse card to be something other than what she knew it was. Something that could negate this attack but she didn't have anything. With a sort of defeated sigh, she slid the card to her graveyard amid more whoops and hollers from the crowd at Ken's play.

NATASHA – 2800

KEN – 1500

Ken had ended his turn by flourishing with his hand toward her. She picked up her next card and looked at it.

**Darkness Approaches  
><strong>**Group: Spell Card  
><strong>**Type: Spell  
><strong>**Discard 2 cards from your hand. Select 1 face-up monster and flip it face-down, but do not change its battle position.**

Once she glanced at her hand cards, which consisted of Miracle Fusion, Elemental Hero Sparkman, Elemental Hero Bladedge and Elemental Hero Wildheart, she had an idea. Actually two ideas, a smart play and a wicked play. The wicked play she had in mind threatened to curl the sides of her mouth into a smirk. So she instead played her Spell Card Darkness Approaches.

She interrupted the 'what the' from Ken to say, "I'll discard Elemental Hero Sparkman and Elemental Hero Bladedge from my hand. I want to turn Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Chimera face down."

The move was perfectly legal according to Darkness Approaches' effect but all it did was to turn a face up attack position Gadjiltron Chimera to a face down attack position. That seemed to do nothing, but Ken was fairly quick to pick up that the intention might be more for the monsters she discarded than the effect of the Spell Card she used. What she was planning to do, he didn't know. But she made it clear for him when she played her next Spell Card, Miracle Fusion.

**Miracle Fusion  
><strong>**Group: Spell Card  
><strong>**Type: Spell  
><strong>**Remove from play, from your side of the field or your Graveyard, Fusion Material Monsters that are listed on a Fusion Monster Card that includes "Elemental Hero" in its card name, and Special Summon that Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck. (This Special Summon is treated as a Fusion Summon).**

"From the effect of Miracle Fusion, I'll remove from play Elemental Heroes Bladedge and Sparkman out of my graveyard to fusion summon Elemental Hero Plasma Vice. (2600/2300)"

**Elemental Hero Plasma Vice  
><strong>**Attrib: Earth  
><strong>**Type: Warrior/Fusion/Effect  
><strong>**Level:8  
><strong>**Atk: 2600  
><strong>**Def: 2300  
><strong>**"Elemental Hero Sparkman" + "Elemental Hero Bladedge" This monster cannot be Special Summoned except by Fusion Summon. During battle between this attacking card and a Defense Position monster whose DEF is lower than the ATK of this card, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent. You can discard 1 card from your hand to destroy 1 Attack Position monster your opponent controls.**

"What the…" Ken let blurb out of his mouth. He looked at this new card to read its effects and Natasha could see him immediately get pale in the face.

"I'll use the effect of Plasma Vice (2600/2300) and discard Elemental Hero Wildheart from my hand." She looked at the face up attack position monster card on Ken's field. "Face down or not, that's still attack position and fair game."

Ken didn't disagree and put the monster into his graveyard. "But at that moment…" he said, reaching for his reverse cards. "I'll flip Stronghold the Moving Fortress."

**Stronghold the Moving Fortress  
><strong>**Group: Trap Card  
><strong>**Type: Trap  
><strong>**Icon:Continuous  
><strong>**After activation, Special Summon this card in Defense Position; it is treated as an Effect Monster Card (Machine-Type/EARTH/Level 4/ATK 0/DEF 2000). (This card is still treated as a Trap Card.) While "Green Gadget", "Red Gadget", and "Yellow Gadget", are all face-up on your side of the field, the ATK of this card becomes 3000.**

"I'll summon Stronghold to defend this attack." Ken said.

Natasha let her hand go to the reverse card she'd been keeping in check for the whole duel and at last flipped it, exposing Reckless Greed.

**Reckless Greed  
><strong>**Group: Trap Card  
><strong>**Type: Trap  
><strong>**Draw 2 cards, and after that skip your next 2 Draw Phases.**

"I'll use Reckless Greed and draw two cards." Natasha said, having exhausted her hand to make her play but not expecting him to play a monster to defend her attack. Fanning the two cards, she smiled and then slapped down a monster. "I'll summon Elemental Hero Sparkman! (1600/1400)"

**Elemental Hero Sparkman  
><strong>**Attrib: Light  
><strong>**Type: Warrior  
><strong>**Level:4  
><strong>**Atk: 1600  
><strong>**Def: 1400  
><strong>**An Elemental Hero and a warrior of light who proficiently wields many kinds of armaments. His Shining Surge Flash cuts off the path of villainy.**

Ken saw the outcome become clear to him now. Plasma Vice (2600/2300) could attack and easily overtake Stronghold (0/2000), leaving him open to Sparkman's direct attack. Which is exactly what Natasha did to win her match.

NATASHA – 2800

KEN – 0

Natasha stood and extended her hand and the crowd once again erupted into a loud cheer for the second winner. Ken took it sheepishly.

"Hey, sorry about the ragging earlier." He said apologetically.

Natasha smiled, still grabbing his hand. She pulled back on it, forcing him to stand up to keep from falling forward. "Stand up. That's what a good duelist does. It's a good habit for men to have, too."

Ken smiled at her, "In other words, stop being a lowlife?"

* * *

><p>Natasha had made her way over to the lounge area where the same reporters that had interviewed Vega interviewed her as well. She had a seat in one of the plush chairs and exhaled a deep breath. She saw Vega eyeing her curiously as she sat.<p>

"Can I ask you something?" Vega said to her.

"Shoot." Natasha said.

"Why'd you do it? Not summon Shining Flare Wingman I mean?" Vega asked.

Natasha had had her eyes closed but then opened them and looked a little closer at the young man. Sure, she was his senior as far as age, but he was sharp as a razor to have picked that up.

"You noticed that." Natasha said in a rhetorical tone. He was right. When she summoned Plasma Vice, she had also had the option to summon Shining Flare Wingman as well. Both of it's fusion components, Flame Wingman and Sparkman, were in her graveyard at the time and Miracle Fusion would've worked on them as well. Even more so, if Natasha had the count right, there would've been 5 Elemental Heroes in her graveyard. For every Elemental Hero in her graveyard, Shining Flare Wingman would increase it's attack power by 300. That would've been a 1500 point boost, putting it at 4000. If she'd attacked with that, she wouldn't have needed to use Reckless Greed and have gotten lucky to draw Sparkman to end that game. In the end, she had gone with the wicked plan rather than the sensible one.

But to Vega, she said, "No need to use an ace if a deuce will do."

Keeping in character, Vega asked, "Hmm…but what if your opponent knows you have an ace?"

Natasha chewed on her lip a moment, then turned to Vega with the corner of her mouth turned up in a smirk. Her eyes said "If they know I have a ace, let _them_ worry about when I'll play it."

Vega smiled back at her with the same look in his eye, "I can see this will be an interesting match."

Natasha sat up slightly, having reminded herself of something and asked Vega how he managed to beat Will by not losing any Life Points and so quickly as well. Vega looked down at his deck and shrugged. "Good training."

"Did he really help train you?" Natasha wondered, curious if Darren Ledger really had a hand in creating this duelist.

Vega seemed to lose sight of Natasha and was looking past her at something in the past. "Not Darrin Ledger, if you were wondering. A very good duelist I met in Japan that taught me a lot. What about you?"

Natasha laughed, "A knucklehead of a brother."

Natasha looked and saw something like a sad kind of smile come over Vega just then. She didn't mean for it to, but on that, the conversation ended between them. Some minutes later, an official from the tournament said they were going to be taking some time to set things up so if they wanted to leave for awhile, that was fine. They would likely finish the tournament in half an hour. Even as they were being told themselves, another official was announcing to the crowd the very same thing. It was about lunchtime anyway.

Natasha stood and among the thinning crowd, she could already see her friends. As she walked toward them, Penny pulled her in close.

"Natasha, who's the guy?" she said with a disneyland smile across her face.

Natasha looked over toward the lounge, "That's Lamar Vega."

Penny seemed to look between Natasha and Vega for a couple of seconds before she said, "Lamar Vega…it even _sounds_ sexy…is he single?"

Natasha took two steps back from Penny with a shocked expression over her features. "P-Penny!"

All Penny did was to lick her lips and slink back toward the left so she could look past Natasha and at Vega. Natasha let out an exasperated sigh and just weakly smiled at her friend. She climbed over the barrier that separated the duelists' area from the spectators and started walking away with Janet and Ginger. Janet had looked back and wondered aloud about what to do with Penny.

"Aw, let her go." Ginger said with a giggle. "The Pope couldn't pry her away from that spot about now."


	2. Natasha vs Vega : Something Special

"I can't believe you're this close to winning, Natasha!" Janet said excitedly, almost knocking over her iced tea into her lap.

"Well, like I told you, these guys are tough. Even that guy Ken was no pushover. But I just gotta stay focused, and stay lucky too." Natasha said, sipping on her iced coffee.

"Lucky? You had that match pretty much the whole way in my mind right up until you had to use Reckless Greed!" Janet cried out excitedly. "I might use that in my own deck…"

Just as Natasha was about to try to warn her off it, saying it was more luck than anything, Janet had opened her deck holder and was going through her own cards. Natasha let out a contented sigh and glanced at her watch.

"Still 15 minutes until I gotta go back…" she said aloud.

"You think you can win?" Ginger asked, throwing herself in the conversation. She was more engrossed in her own iced tea.

Natasha leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "I don't know. I didn't get to see his match. Did you guys see what his deck looked like?"

Ginger and Janet exchanged quick looks that showed, of all things, nervousness but it was Ginger that replied, "Yes and no." Natasha had raised an eyebrow but allowed Ginger to continue. "You saw it too. His duel was over in two turns, that's why everyone was so crazy when he won. It was that close to being a one turn kill."

Janet continued. "He played Graceful Charity to draw three cards, then when he discarded his two cards, he put Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Red-Eyes Wyvern in the graveyard."

"Wait!" Natasha said, holding up a hand to ask them to pause. "Red-Eyes?"

Ginger, who was versed and knew the game Yu-Gi-Oh! fairly well, didn't share in the surprise evident between Janet and Natasha. When she asked about why, Natasha explained that while Red-Eyes was a strong monster and had some good options around it, it wasn't a theme that was thought of as tournament-level strong. The machine deck that Will, his opponent, had was something of the level you'd usually see at this level. It had plentiful options, tons of available variations and Spell and Trap Cards that could help it out greatly.

"He ended his turn and removed Red-Eyes Wyvern from play to special summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Will couldn't do anything but defend in his turn but it didn't matter. When Vega's turn came again, he played Nobleman of Crossout to destroy Will's face down monster. He played Inferno Fire Blast to deal him 2400 damage and then played a monster to directly attack and win."

"So you saw him play…" Natasha surmised, "but you really didn't see much of anything."

"Yeah…sorry." Janet said, replacing her earlier enthusiasm with timid caution.

Natasha rubbed her chin in thought. _Now I feel a little better about not playing Shining Flare Wingman in my own match against Ken. If he got away with only showing off five or six cards out of his deck, I'll take the knowledge that he might not know everything about my own deck._

"One of these days, I might have to make myself my own deck of cards." Ginger said out of the blue, swaying the topic.

"I keep trying to get you to do just that…" Janet said with an annoyed look.

"And I keep hearing you use excuse after excuse." Natasha said with a look that mirrored Janet's.

"I mean it this time!" Ginger pleaded, smiling with her hands clasped as if in prayer and looking over her head as if she expected a halo to appear. Natasha and Janet looked at each other and then back at Ginger. At the same time, they rolled their eyes and with a girly wave of the hand mumbled, "Whatever."

"And I want you guys to teach me." Ginger continued to plead but still smiling.

Janet had been sipping on her iced tea again and nearly choked when she heard Ginger. She waved her hands frantically like Ginger's statement was a speeding train bearing down on her. "No, no, no, no! Not me!"

"Why not, Jan?" Ginger asked.

Natasha leaned over in her seat and jokingly elbowed Janet in the ribs. "Yeah, why _not_ you, Janet? You're plenty good."

Janet, the poor girl, lost a lot of her ability to put a sentence together without either stuttering or leaving it half done. She started rattling off a list of reasons that she couldn't do it that Natasha barely made sense of. Ginger buried her head into her crossed arms on the table, letting her blonde locks and forearms cover the sight and sounds of her laughing and snickering.

Natasha recovered a bit and made a straight face for Ginger. "Alright, I'll do it. You don't have to if you don't wanna, Jan. But I think you're plenty good enough to probably teach."

Janet blushed slightly, but didn't say anything more. She just seemed relieved to be off the hook for now. She was so relaxed that she didn't see or feel Ginger's mischievous hands reach toward her hip and pilfer her deck until she saw her laying out a deck of cards on the table that looked a lot like hers. She glanced down at her hip to only see an open deck holder and fumed at Ginger, holding out her hands as if she wanted to choke the little tyke.

"I ought to…" Janet had growled, only to gasp as Ginger had picked up her glass to sip from it but as she brought it to her lips she failed to notice the condensation from her glass starting to drip down and nearly spatter over Janet's cards.

"Lesson one…" Natasha said as she took the cards from Ginger. "Never take decks without permission. And lesson two is to never mix cold drinks and paper cards."

Ginger looked at the side of her glass and the drops of water that were still continuing to drop off of it and grinned sheepishly. But Natasha still held the deck from Ginger and gave her a sort of condescending look. She just repeated, "Lesson one."

"May I?" Ginger asked, totally serious and putting her drink well out of the way of her area. Natasha shook her head, saying that Ginger needed to be asking permission from someone else, not her. Ginger then turned to Janet and Janet nodded to Natasha who gently handed the cards over to Ginger.

"I guess I got no choice if you're going to manhandle my cards like that, Ginger, but to try to help teach you." Janet said, letting out a sigh and propping her head up in her cupped hands.

* * *

><p>"I'll go first." Natasha said, drawing her sixth card and looking across the table at Lamar Vega. A small platform had been brought in to elevate the table that they were playing their duel on. They sat a good three feet off the ground, once again surrounded by cameras to their sides and above them. The table they were at was the real highlight though. Their chairs sat at a normal height, but the table was set slightly lower than average. It allowed them to play with a more comfortable height. Also, the tabletop itself was made of glass that must've had a opening in it somewhere. Below the glass on Natasha's side was her duel mat and on Vega's side was his. The glass was polished and allowed their cards to almost glide across it. Very nice. So Natasha glided a card from her hand onto her field.<p>

"I'll summon Elemental Hero Avian (1000/1000) in defense mode."

**Elemental Hero Avian  
><strong>**Attrib: Wind  
><strong>**Type: Warrior  
><strong>**Level:3  
><strong>**Atk: 1000  
><strong>**Def: 1000  
><strong>**A winged Elemental Hero who wheels through the sky and manipulates the wind. His signature move, Featherbreak, gives villainy a blow from sky-high.**

Natasha pulled another card out of her hand. "And I'll play this Field Spell, Skyscraper."

**Skyscraper  
><strong>**Group: Spell Card  
><strong>**Type: Spell  
><strong>**Icon:Field  
><strong>**When a monster that includes "Elemental Hero" in its card name attacks, if its ATK is lower than the ATK of the attack target, increase the ATK of the attacking monster by 1000 points during damage calculation only.**

_The final duel. Shouldn't go offensive so early. He might know my deck better than I know his._ Natasha thought to herself. "I'll end it there."

"My move." Vega said in a calm manner. "I'll summon Troop Dragon (700/800) in defense mode."

**Troop Dragon  
><strong>**Attrib: Wind  
><strong>**Type: Dragon/Effect  
><strong>**Level:2  
><strong>**Atk: 700  
><strong>**Def: 800  
><strong>**When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard as a result of battle, Special Summon 1 "Troop Dragon" from your Deck to the field. Then shuffle your Deck.**

Vega set a reverse card onto the table as well and ended his turn. Natasha drew, noticing that Vega seemed to want to play a slower opening as well. Especially with a monster like Troop Dragon out as his starting monster. But while she didn't want to fully tip her hand, she saw an opening with the card she'd drawn and planned to jump on it.

"I'll play this Spell Card, Soul Taker."

**Soul Taker  
><strong>**Group: Spell Card  
><strong>**Type: Spell  
><strong>**Destroy 1 face-up monster your opponent controls. Then, your opponent gains 1000 Life Points.**

"I'll destroy your Troop Dragon." Natasha said, shifting her card into the graveyard after it became apparent that Vega didn't intend to use his reverse card on Soul Taker. The scoreboard flickered with a change in their Life Points.

NATASHA – 4000  
>VEGA – 5000<p>

"Next, I'll switch Avian (1000/1000) from defense to attack mode and summon Elemental Hero Lady Heat (1300/1000) in defense mode."

**Elemental Hero Lady Heat  
><strong>**Attrib: Fire  
><strong>**Type: Pyro/Effect  
><strong>**Level:4  
><strong>**Atk: 1300  
><strong>**Def: 1000  
><strong>**During each of your End Phases, inflict 200 damage to your opponent for each face-up "Elemental Hero" monster you control.**

"I'll attack you directly with Avian…" Natasha trailed off, not sure if Vega would try to use that reverse card. But he didn't. He just made a note of his Life Points returning to their starting levels.

NATASHA – 4000  
>VEGA – 4000<p>

"Destroying Troop Dragon with a Spell Card instead of by battling to keep it from special summoning another to my field. Nice." Vega commented.

Natasha just nodded, something within her telling her that Vega was honestly impressed but also not hurt by the move. "I'll move to my End Phase and use Lady Heat's effect to inflict damage to you equal to the number of Elemental Heroes I have on my field, which is two."

NATASHA – 4000  
>VEGA – 3600<p>

Unlike before when they inflicted damage on another opponent, the crowd was much more subdued. There was scattered applause but they seemed to be watching with more intense interest than before. Natasha ended her turn and watched Vega draw another card and look at his hand for a few moments. She watched him slip a card from his hand into his Spell/Trap Card Zone.

"I'll play Flint."

**Flint  
><strong>**Group: Spell Card  
><strong>**Type: Spell  
><strong>**Icon:Equip  
><strong>**A monster equipped with this card can not change its Battle Position or attack, and has its ATK decreased by 300 points. If the equipped monster is destroyed, select 1 monster on the field and equip this card to that monster.**

"I want Flint to target your Elemental Hero Avian. (700/1000)" Vega said and with Natasha's permission, laid his Equip Spell Card over the monster to let them both know the target of the card since its latter effect allowed it to become equipped to another monster when the currently equipped monster was destroyed.

"Now I'll summon Flint Lock (1500/800) in attack mode."

**Flint Lock  
><strong>**Attrib: Light  
><strong>**Type: Machine/Effect  
><strong>**Level:4  
><strong>**Atk: 1500  
><strong>**Def: 800  
><strong>**Once per turn, you can equip 1 "Flint" on the field to this card. You can take any "Flint" equipped to this card and equip to another face-up monster. This card can only be equipped with 1 "Flint" at a time. While equipped with "Flint", it is unaffected by "Flint"'s effect and cannot be destroyed by battle.**

Natasha regarded the new monster card with curiosity. She was under the impression that Vega was using a deck that centered around Red-Eyes, this didn't seem to support that. It didn't fit. But after thinking about it a little more, she realized that with some tweaking, it probably _could_ work.

Red-Eyes' main weakness was that it was underpowered for being a level 7 monster that required 2 sacrifices that only had 2400 attack points. A Summoned Skull was 100 points stronger and only required 1 sacrifice. But by having a card that, like Flint does, remains on the field that can continually weaken monsters can make Red-Eyes better prepared when it hits the field.

_This deck could be very well thought out against Red-Eyes' weaknesses. Actually, it'd have to be for Vega to make it to this level._ Natasha thought and believed that this Flint and Flint Lock combo could be trouble if she decided to summon something stronger without removing it first.

"I'll have Flint Lock (1500/800) attack Avian (700/1000)"

Natasha looked ever so briefly at her Skyscraper Field Spell, wishing that it could give its attack increase to monsters of hers that got attacked. But it only worked when she was the one attacking. She handed Vega back his Flint Spell Card and moved her Avian to her graveyard, shaving off a few of her Life Points.

NATASHA – 3200  
>VEGA – 3600<p>

Vega set his Flint card in the Spell/Trap Card Zone directly below Flint Lock. Now with Flint equipped to it, all she could do is damage him but it still wouldn't destroy Flint Lock. Vega could be content to take a little damage as long as in the following turn he could shift Flint to it and lock it down.

"I'll end my turn." Vega said.

"My turn." Natasha drew her card, already forming a plan in her mind to deal with Flint and Flint Lock. "I'll play Pot of Greed."

**Pot of Greed  
><strong>**Group: Spell Card  
><strong>**Type: Spell  
><strong>**Draw 2 cards from your Deck.**

Natasha slipped two cards from her deck and added them to her hand, then pulled another out. "I'm going to play this Spell Card, Future Fusion."

**Future Fusion  
><strong>**Group: Spell Card  
><strong>**Type: Spell  
><strong>**Icon:Continuous  
><strong>**Send, from your Deck to the Graveyard, Fusion Material Monsters that are listed on a Fusion Monster Card, and select that 1 Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck. Special Summon a Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck with the same name as the selected Fusion Monster, during your 2nd Standby Phase after this card's activation. (This Special Summon is treated as a Fusion Summon.) When this card is removed from the field, destroy the monster. When the monster is destroyed, destroy this card.**

Vega nodded, showing he didn't intend to stop her from playing it. Natasha picked up her deck and started searching through it for two particular monsters, placing them face down. She shuffled her deck and offered it to Vega that gave it a three fold cut. She replaced her deck and now started searching through her Extra Deck for the Fusion Monster she intended to summon. She set the card with the other two she'd removed from her deck and flipped them all up for Vega to see.

"The Fusion Monster I selected was Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster… (2000/2500)"

**Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster  
><strong>**Attrib: Earth  
><strong>**Type: Warrior/Fusion/Effect  
><strong>**Level:6  
><strong>**Atk: 2000  
><strong>**Def: 2500  
><strong>**"Elemental Hero Clayman" + "Elemental Hero Burstinatrix" This monster cannot be Special Summoned except by Fusion Summon. While this card is in face-up Defense Position, this card can attack your opponent directly. In that case, apply half the ATK of this card for damage calculation.**

"So the monsters that I picked from my deck from Future Fusion's effect are its components, Elemental Heroes Clayman (800/2000) and Burstinatrix. (1200/800)"

**Elemental Hero Clayman  
><strong>**Attrib: Earth  
><strong>**Type: Warrior  
><strong>**Level:4  
><strong>**Atk: 800  
><strong>**Def: 2000  
><strong>**An Elemental Hero with a clay body built-to-last. He'll preserve his Elemental Hero colleagues at any cost.**

**Elemental Hero Burstinatrix  
><strong>**Attrib: Fire  
><strong>**Type: Warrior  
><strong>**Level:3  
><strong>**Atk: 1200  
><strong>**Def: 800  
><strong>**A flame manipulator who is the only woman among the Elemental Heroes. Her Burstfire burns away villainy.**

_With Rampart Blaster, I can evade his Flint and Flint Lock combo to be able to do some damage if I can't find a way to destroy it before by second Standby Phase when its summoned. But it also lets me put something out there for him to worry about right now._ Natasha set another Spell Card down, Miracle Fusion.

**Miracle Fusion  
><strong>**Group: Spell Card  
><strong>**Type: Spell  
><strong>**Remove from play, from your side of the field or your Graveyard, Fusion Material Monsters that are listed on a Fusion Monster Card that includes "Elemental Hero" in its card name, and Special Summon that Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck. (This Special Summon is treated as a Fusion Summon).**

Natasha saw Vega's eyes grow a little bigger when she set that card down and seeing that he didn't intend to use that reverse card again she moved to search for her intended Fusion Monster. _That reverse card can't be anything that would negate my Spell Cards. I've given him two targets that he'd probably love to negate but he hasn't._

"I'll remove Elemental Heroes Burstinatrix and Avian from my graveyard from the game to Fusion Summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman. (2100/1200)"

**Elemental Hero Flame Wingman  
><strong>**Attrib: Wind  
><strong>**Type: Warrior/Fusion/Effect  
><strong>**Level:6  
><strong>**Atk: 2100  
><strong>**Def: 1200  
><strong>**"Elemental Hero Avian" + "Elemental Hero Burstinatrix" This monster cannot be Special Summoned except by Fusion Summon. When this card destroys a monster and sends it to the Graveyard as a result of battle, inflict damage to your opponent's Life Points equal to the ATK of the destroyed monster.**

Now the crowd started to make a little noise, seeing the corner that Vega had been backed up into. Natasha announced her intention to have Flame Wingman (2100/1200) attack Flint Lock (1500/800) and Vega made no objections. The damage was inflicted, but Flint Lock's effect while Flint was equipped to it made it unable to be destroyed by battle.

NATASHA – 3200  
>VEGA – 3000<p>

"I'll move to my End Phase and, again, use Elemental Hero Lady Heat's effect on you, Vega. Two Elemental Heroes mean 400 damage."

NATASHA – 3200  
>VEGA – 2600<p>

"Your move." Natasha said, confident, but also wary of what Vega may try to counter her big move last turn. Vega drew his card, looked at it for a moment then set his cards on the table, leaned back into his chair and thought for a little while. Right now, Natasha had a good field set up. Flame Wingman was out and was the main threat, but it's effect was a killer in itself and with Lady Heat out as well, it could damage Vega bit by bit over time. Skyscraper was out as well, so that meant on her turn, Vega would have to deal with what was a monster that had 3100 attack points.

"I'm going to use Flint Lock's effect…" Vega said slowly, as if still mapping out his intended strategy in his mind. "to switch Flint to another monster once per turn, and I'll target Lady Heat.(1300/1000) At that moment, I'll flip my reverse card, Flint Missile."

**Flint Missile  
><strong>**Group: Spell Card  
><strong>**Type: Spell  
><strong>**Icon:Quick-Play  
><strong>**Destroy 1 monster equipped with "Flint". You can return this card to your Deck instead of sending it to the Graveyard after it resolves.**

Natasha obliged and slipped Lady Heat into the graveyard while Vega, once again, allowed Flint to become equipped to Flint Lock and shifted the monster from attack mode to defense mode. He also decided to return Flint Missile to his deck after using it. He gave it a shuffle and offered it to Natasha for a cut. Natasha just tapped the top of it with her index finger and passed it back. Vega set down a Spell Card, Graceful Charity.

**Graceful Charity  
><strong>**Group: Spell Card  
><strong>**Type: Spell  
><strong>**Draw 3 cards from your deck, then discard any 2 cards from your hand.**

Vega drew three cards and seeming to not even think about it, picked up two cards for its discard cost. Natasha thought he must have something planned, eyeing the remaining four cards in his hand. But surprisingly, all he did was pick one out of them and set it in his Spell/Trap Card Zone. It was his next move after that that was the real hook.

"I'll move to my End Phase…" he started and then pointed to the top card in his graveyard pile. "And I'll remove this card from the game…"

**Red-Eyes Wyvern  
><strong>**Attrib: Wind  
><strong>**Type: Dragon/Effect  
><strong>**Level:4  
><strong>**Atk: 1800  
><strong>**Def: 1600  
><strong>**During your End Phase, if you did not Normal Summon or Set a monster that turn, you can remove from play this card from your Graveyard to Special Summon 1 "Red-Eyes" monster from your Graveyard, except "Red-Eyes B. Chick".**

Now Natasha was slightly wide eyed, realizing now why Vega seemed so sure of the cards he intended to discard from Graceful Charity.

She listened as Vega continued, "to Special Summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon! (2400/2000)

**Red-Eyes B. Dragon  
><strong>**Attrib: Dark  
><strong>**Type: Dragon  
><strong>**Level:7  
><strong>**Atk: 2400  
><strong>**Def: 2000  
><strong>**A ferocious dragon with a deadly attack.**

Natasha looked down at the card and something caught her eye that made her double take. In the space between the picture of the monster and where its text resided was the words '1st edition' and the set label 'LOB' which was short for the very first set that was released in the United States, Legend of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The value of that card alone was probably more than what she paid for really nice shoes.

"That's a 1st edition Red-Eyes!" she exclaimed after a second.

Vega jumped up as if she'd shocked him with the statement. He smiled and said, "It is. It was a gift from my old mentor."

"Vega, no offense, but there are plenty of copies of Red-Eyes out there to use for your tournament deck. Why use such a collectable in your deck?" Natasha asked.

Vega shrugged and ran a finger down the side of it. "I don't look at it like that. I see it as a card that a friend gave me to duel with, not to hang over my fireplace."

Natasha nodded with understanding, "One of these days, you'll have to tell me about this mentor of yours. But anyway, it's still your move. Please continue."

Vega nodded, but said he had nothing more to do and ended his turn. Natasha drew, noting to Vega that this was the 1st standby phase since she'd activated Future Fusion.

"I'll use the effect of Skyscraper and have Flame Wingman (2100/1200) attack Red-Eyes. (2400/2000)"

"Chain!" Vega declared, flipping over his reverse card. "Imperial Order!"

**Imperial Order  
><strong>**Group: Trap Card  
><strong>**Type: Trap  
><strong>**Icon:Continuous  
><strong>**As long as this card remains face-up on the field, negate the effects of all Spell Cards on the field. Pay 700 Life Points during each of your Standby Phases. If you do not, this card is destroyed.**

"I'll use Imperial Order to negate the effect of Skyscraper." Vega said.

Natasha spoke a curse to herself in her mind but willingly put Flame Wingman into the graveyard and reduced her Life Points a little more.

NATASHA – 2800  
>VEGA – 2600<p>

She now had a open field to Vega and his Red-Eyes and not one monster that she could use to defend herself with. She did have a few options, though, to not leave him with a totally naked field. "I'll play another Field Spell, Skyscraper 2 – Hero City"

**Skyscraper 2 - Hero City  
><strong>**Group: Spell Card  
><strong>**Type: Spell  
><strong>**Icon:Field  
><strong>**Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can Special Summon 1 "Elemental Hero" monster from your Graveyard that was destroyed by battle. (Only this card's controller can use this effect.)**

"That won't help me right now, though." Natasha conceded since she and Vega both realized that she was in her Main Phase 2. "I'll summon Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000) in defense mode."

**Elemental Hero Clayman  
><strong>**Attrib: Earth  
><strong>**Type: Warrior  
><strong>**Level:4  
><strong>**Atk: 800  
><strong>**Def: 2000  
><strong>**An Elemental Hero with a clay body built-to-last. He'll preserve his Elemental Hero colleagues at any cost.**

She ended her turn. _Vega really is a good duelist. But so long as I can survive this coming turn, he'll need to be on the back foot again. In the next turn, not only can I use Skyscraper 2 – Hero City to revive Flame Wingman, I can also summon Rampart Blaster. They're not as strong as Red-Eyes and I still haven't dealt with Flint and Flint Lock but I still have my ace..._

"My move. And I choose not to pay the Life Points for Imperial Order, so I'll destroy it." Vega moved the Trap Card into his graveyard and set down another reverse card it its place.

Natasha saw that Vega was noticing that aside from her Field Spell Card, she had no other reverse cards on her field. And Skyscraper 2 – Hero City wouldn't stop Red-Eyes from destroying Clayman.

Vega set his hands on his two monsters. "I'll turn Flint Lock to attack mode. I'll have Red-Eyes (2400/2000) destroy Clayman (800/2000) and then have Flint Lock (1500/800) attack you directly."

Natasha nodded, and heard some cheers and hoots come from behind her as her Life Points started to drop to critical levels.

NATASHA – 1300  
>VEGA – 2600<p>

"I'll set one reverse card and end my turn." Vega said, seeming to suppress a shiver in his arm as he did so. Natasha noticed and frowned slightly. Shaking like that, from her experience, told her that a person thought they had a advantage. _If you only knew, Vega._

"My turn." Natasha announced and at once, pulled Flame Wingman from her graveyard and Rampart Blaster from her Extra Deck and placed them on her field. "From the effect of Skyscraper 2 – Hero City, I'll Special Summon Flame Wingman (2100/1200) in attack mode and summon Rampart Blaster (2000/2500) in defense mode."

Vega nodded, but looked unconcerned since, as he probably figured, neither could touch Red-Eyes and Flint Lock couldn't be destroyed by battle.

"Remember our conversation about an ace, Vega?" Natasha said, setting a monster down onto her field and watching him tense up slightly and nod. "Well, a deuce won't cut it here, so you'll get to see the ace. First, I'll summon Sparkman."

**Elemental Hero Sparkman  
><strong>**Attrib: Light  
><strong>**Type: Warrior  
><strong>**Level:4  
><strong>**Atk: 1600  
><strong>**Def: 1400  
><strong>**An Elemental Hero and a warrior of light who proficiently wields many kinds of armaments. His Shining Surge Flash cuts off the path of villainy.**

"Then I'll play Polymerization."

**Polymerization  
><strong>**Group: Spell Card  
><strong>**Type: Spell  
><strong>**Send Fusion Material Monsters that are listed by a Fusion Monster Card from your hand or your side of the field to the Graveyard, and Special Summon that Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck.**

"You know which monsters I want to fuse, Vega." Natasha said, removing Flame Wingman and Sparkman from her field and picking up the top card from her Extra Deck, where she liked to leave this monster at, and placed it onto her field. "I'll Fusion Summon Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman! (2500/2100)"

**Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman  
><strong>**Attrib: Light  
><strong>**Type: Warrior/Fusion/Effect  
><strong>**Level:8  
><strong>**Atk: 2500  
><strong>**Def: 2100  
><strong>**"Elemental Hero Flame Wingman" + "Elemental Hero Sparkman" This monster cannot be Special Summoned except by Fusion Summon. Increase the ATK of this card by 300 points for each card in your Graveyard that includes "Elemental Hero" in its card name. When this card destroys a monster as a result of battle and sends it to the Graveyard, inflict damage to your opponent's Life Points equal to the ATK of the destroyed monster.**

Loud and, frankly, annoying whispers arose from the gathered crowd as a good many of them realized that Shining Flare Wingman could win this duel all on it's own with Vega's Life Points just low enough. Natasha, obviously, realized it too and Vega was starting to realize it as well. But he didn't stress out. He just looked down at Natasha's monster but she could tell from looking in his eyes that he didn't think he was going to lose just yet.

Natasha started going through her graveyard, filtering out some monsters and showing them to Vega as she explained, "For each Elemental Hero monster in my graveyard, I can add 300 attack points to Shining Flare Wingman. There are 5 of them; Sparkman, Flame Wingman, Lady Heat, and two Claymen. That makes it's attack power 4000."

Natasha tried to exhale a steady breath, trying to calm her nerves. "I'll have Shining Flare Wingman (4000/2500) attack Red-Eyes. (2400/2000)"

Vega and Natasha locked eyes for a moment and it seemed that the whole world had held it's breath. Unless Vega could do otherwise, this attack would win her the game and she'd be the national champion.

But the words she'd been hoping to _not_ hear came from Vega's lips while he continued to stare at her. "Chain." Natasha was the one to break away to look at the reverse card he'd flipped.

**Damage Polarizer  
><strong>**Group: Trap Card  
><strong>**Type: Trap  
><strong>**Icon:Counter  
><strong>**Activate only when an effect that inflicts damage is activated. Negate its activation and effect, and each player draws 1 card.**

"I can't stop the damage that I'll take from the battle…" Vega started, ticking down his own Life Points to a dangerous level.

NATASHA – 1300  
>VEGA – 1000<p>

"But I can stop the effect Shining Flare Wingman has to inflict damage to me equal to my destroyed monster's attack power. According to the effect of Damage Polarizer, I'll draw a card." He slipped a card from his deck and Natasha did the same. Now she turned toward Rampart Blaster. _Vega's Life Points are at 1000. Rampart Blaster's effect is that while it's in defense mode, it can attack the player directly, but only half of its attack power is used in damage calculation. It's original attack power is 2000. If I attacked with Rampart Blaster, I could win._

"I'll…" she hesitated. "I'll attack directly with the effect of Rampart Blaster."

Again, she could feel her ears wince as she heard, "Chain."

Vega picked out a card from his hand, not the one he'd drawn from Damage Polarizer incidentially, and threw it into his graveyard, but allowed Natasha to see it.

**Kuriboh  
><strong>**Attrib: Dark  
><strong>**Type: Fiend/Effect  
><strong>**Level:1  
><strong>**Atk: 300  
><strong>**Def: 200  
><strong>**During your opponent's Battle Phase, you can discard this card to reduce the Battle Damage inflicted to your Life Points from 1 of your opponent's monster's attacks to 0.**

Natasha sucked her teeth, seeing how she'd been foiled, and ended her turn.

"My move. Draw." Vega drew his card and turned it so Natasha could see his Pot of Greed Spell Card. He drew two cards and very noticeably sat up a little straighter in his seat.

"I'll play this Spell Card, Swing of Memories."

**Swing of Memories  
><strong>**Group: Spell Card  
><strong>**Type: Spell  
><strong>**Special Summon 1 Normal Monster from your Graveyard. It is destroyed during the End Phase of this turn.**

As she read it's effect, it took Natasha no time at all to figure that the target of this Spell Card was Red-Eyes (2400/2000) but it didn't make sense for her because not only was it weaker than Shining Flare Wingman, (4000/2500) it was also not strong enough to destroy Rampart Blaster (2000/2500) either. And it would be destroyed at the end of his turn.

Vega, however, answered her questions about his motives with the next card that he played.

**Megamorph  
><strong>**Group: Spell Card  
><strong>**Type: Spell  
><strong>**Icon:Equip  
><strong>**While your Life Points are lower than your opponent's, double the original ATK of a monster equipped with this card. While your Life Points are higher, halve the original ATK.**

Natasha paled as she heard the crowd become louder around her.

"Megamorph…" Vega started, "will double Red-Eyes' attack power to 4800. I'll have it attack your Shining Flare Wingman. (4000/2500)"

Natasha, with some noticeable regret, carefully picked up Shining Flare Wingman and set it down in her graveyard, while simultaneously, watching her Life Points.

NATASHA – 500  
>VEGA – 1000<p>

Vega then took the last card from his hand and set it down on his Spell/Trap Card Zone. Natasha just groaned and let her hands fall into her lap as she saw it.

**Stamping Destruction  
><strong>**Group: Spell Card  
><strong>**Type: Spell  
><strong>**Activate only when you have a face-up Dragon-Type monster on your side of the field. Destroy 1 Spell or Trap Card on the field and inflict 500 points of damage to the controller of that card.**

"Unless you can stop it, I'll destroy Future Fusion and inflict damage to you for the game." Vega said with a bit of caution.

Natasha sadly shook her head and reached across the table to offer her hand, smiling for him. "I can't. Congratulations, Lamar Vega."

NATASHA – 0  
>VEGA – 1000<p>

* * *

><p>It was a little less than 15 minutes later, after the crowd had erupted into cheers for Vega and he went around giving spectators high-fives and whatnot that she found herself on the same raised stage that she and Vega had dueled on. To her left was an announcer, a Upperdeck spokesman named Michael Sinclair and to his side was Lamar Vega. All three of them faced a row of cameras, reporters and spectators filed in behind them. As he prepared to give some kind of speech and awards ceremony for them, she felt a bitter taste in her mouth. <em>The nasty taste of defeat,<em> she surmised. It wasn't as strong as thought.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please give another round of applause for these two excellent duelists. They put up a great duel for us to enjoy." Sinclair started off, tucking his wireless mic under his arm and clapping himself.

"I'd like to welcome you all to the awards ceremony for the 200X Duel King Tournament. Standing besides me are the two duelists that before facing off against each other, bested a pool of duelists from around the country. Both in points amassed by winning local tournaments and by besting the best of the regions. They are the best our country has to offer!"

Another round of applause rung out for them as Sinclair waited for them to settle before continuing and turning toward Natasha. "A duelist that hailed from the city of Millstone, she came into the final stages of this tournament as one of only two women to make it to this level. She has made it to the grandest stage we can offer and dueled brilliantly. Natasha Chapel, I thank you, we all thank you for your effort."

Natasha liked to see herself as a girl with a decent sense of good judgment about people. And even though it sounded kinda corny, she felt that Sinclair really meant what he said. She was suddenly more acutely aware of the cameras around her and almost tried to hide her face from the embarrassing comment. But she recovered, stepped forward on the stage a bit and bowed to the clapping crowd and cameras, then she stepped back.

"Natasha…" Sinclair said, reaching for a table behind him that contained prizes. "For your dedication, I'm very proud to give you both a check in the amount of 1,000.00 dollars and a voucher for two free booster boxes of any Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game set. Congratulations."

The check was one of the types that were oversized and had her name in cursive and a bold print showing the check amount as well as a smaller paper that was the voucher that he'd mentioned. Natasha took the check and stood with her hand clasping Sinclair's while cameras rolled and flashes from cameras exploded in her eyes. After a few moments with a smile taped to her face, she took the check and stood with them leaning against her legs while Sinclair turned to Vega.

"Lamar…you've probably exemplified the spirit of the game with your presence here. You've taken a deck that most have only seen in the anime and made it into something worth taking note of. As well as making others take note of yourself. A first-year entrant into the Duel King Tournament, you beat out some of the nation's best to come to the top of the mountain. Lamar, for your hard work, I'm very proud to give you this check for 3,500.00 dollars, this championship trophy and of course, the title of North America's Yu-Gi-Oh! Champion. Congratulations!"

The crowd grew to its loudest since they'd been there and as Sinclair gave Vega a similarly sized check and the championship trophy, Vega hoisted both into the air and stepped forward. The crowd behind the reporters and cameramen began clapping in a chant as he bobbed his head to each 'note'. He set the check down behind him and with both hands raised the trophy above his head, then lowered it and stepped back into line with Sinclair and Natasha.

"Ladies and gentlemen, on the part of Upperdeck, I want to thank you for being with us to enjoy the 200X Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game Duel King Tournament. I hope to see you all with us next year, and hopefully…" as he looked between both Vega and Natasha. "Both of you may find yourselves on this stage again."

As they'd been told, at that moment, both Natasha and Vega turned toward each other and gave each other a handshake. But if one looked closely, they could see Natasha say something to Vega and Vega responded. They both wore smirks on their faces.


	3. As Time Passes

**Lamar Vega beats Natasha Chapel in exciting match to claim National Championship. First time entrant!**

_It's been said that good things come to those who wait. Lamar Vega didn't get that memo in his life. The 15 year old from Millstone came from nowhere to lead his region coming into the National Championships and bested another resident of Millstone, Natasha Chapel for the title of North America's best duelist._

_Lamar's unique deck construction focused on Red-Eyes Black Dragon and augmenting it with a few support cards like Flint, Flint Lock, Damage Polarizer, Inferno Fire Blast and Red-Eyes Wyvern. It was with these primary cards that he was able to keep his opponents' much stronger monsters at bay. It was a similar deck like this that he used to win the C.G. Invitational tournament earlier this year. _

"_A mentor that taught me a lot about how the game is played got me onto using Red-Eyes." Lamar Vega said in an interview after his championship match. "It's not the strongest monster, but then again, the strongest monster never wins the championships, do they?"_

"_I wanted to come out and win." Lamar said. "I didn't have an idea of just wanting to get here to this level just for the experience and come back again. I wanted to win it all, so I focused on taking it one duel at a time and not overlooking anyone."_

_He certainly didn't overlook anyone. After cruising in the semi-finals, he faced a tough challenge in Natasha Chapel and her Shining Flare Wingman deck. She pushed him to a 1300-1000 deficit with both Shining Flare Wingman and Rampart Blaster threatening to end Lamar's run in the tournament. But he persevered and managed to call on a Megamorph-equipped Red-Eyes Black Dragon to topple a 4000 ATK strong Shining Flare Wingman._

"_His instincts are sharp and his knowledge of the game is just as good as probably any tournament veteran." Natasha Chapel said of Lamar Vega after their match. "The fact that he was new to the tournament wasn't a factor in our match. He simply outplayed me in the end." _

_On his near perfect game in the semi-finals, Lamar said, "In life, you sometimes can't win all the time. I came into a good opening hand."_

**A challenge to return to the National Championship stage?**

_It's been reported that in the closing moments of the awards ceremony for the 200X Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Duel King Tournament, the champion Lamar Vega and runner-up Natasha Chapel exchanged a few words before parting. More than a few blogs and questionable sources claimed this exchange was heated words by Natasha to Lamar or even an invitation by Lamar to Natasha to join him for a date. We have the real story here!_

"_Oh, that?" Natasha said after we caught up with her "That was nothing. I told him, and you can quote me, 'Was Red-Eyes __**your**__ ace? And he said, 'Maybe.' So I guess I'll have to face him again to find out."_

_We tracked down Lamar Vega and asked him about it as well. "That's pretty much the gist of it. Natasha's a strong opponent and I wouldn't be surprised to see her at the top of her region this year either. Meeting up again somewhere in the finals isn't out of the question."_

_We also tried asking him about his entry into the C.G. Invitational next year where Darrin Ledger is scheduled to appear and participate after missing the event this year. This year's event was the one where Lamar Vega won and had many wondering would he have won if Darrin Ledger had participated. When asked about this, Vega said "If it comes down to me and him, I don't plan to treat it any more special than just about any other duel. In order to get to the top, one of us has to lose. Whether he's the kingpin of Yu-Gi-Oh! or not doesn't have a bearing on whether he'll beat me or I'll beat him."_

* * *

><p>ONE YEAR LATER<p>

**Darrin Ledger set to take on Lamar Vega for title.**

_We're one day away from the C.G. Invitational's final round and it's the match everyone dreamed for. Lamar Vega, reigning national champion of the Duel King Tournament and last year's winner of CGI will be dueling against the man some feel will destroy the 'lucky upstart' in Vega, Darrin Ledger. _

_Darrin Ledger has spent the last few months ever since the end of the Duel King Tournament that he qualified for but didn't enter practicing. He's spent a good amount of time a day either reviewing his past duels or analyzing his opponents' duels. He says he felt "amazing" going through the earlier rounds of the tournament with little opposition to reach the finals._

_Lamar Vega seemed to put together a nice string of matches himself. His victories were no less important than Ledger's to get him to the finals, but it was not an easy walk in the park. He was dropped to below 1000 Life Points in 3 of the 5 duels he won. "I haven't been on the very top of my game today. There are some stupid habits I need to sit and get out of me forever."_

_A name that needs mentioning is Natasha Chapel, who may be waiting in the wings for the winner of this duel at the Duel King Tournament. Natasha attended this invitation-only event as a spectator and declined to interview with us, as she focused on the two headlining duelists. Natasha Chapel was the runner-up to last year's Duel King Tournament._

_This will end up being the first meeting between the two and is sure to be action packed. Their match, scheduled for tomorrow, will be the final game of the invitational and fans will get to see who would win in the most requested match of a long time._

* * *

><p><strong>Surprise, surprise! Lamar Vega scrapes by Darrin Ledger to win invitational! Becomes first duelist to win the event twice-in-a-row!<strong>

_Shockwaves have been sent throughout North America because of a 16 year old. Lamar Vega proved all his naysayers and critics wrong, wrong, wrong by earning a win in a hard fought duel against Darrin Ledger, the clear favorite. It was a match with a clear division within the crowds with a larger faction cheering for Ledger that had to give way to the smaller, but no less passionate faction in Vega's corner. _

"_It's surreal." Vega said moments after the win. "This last year and a half has been totally surreal."_

_It is a very accomplished feat he's done. He won the event last year while Darrin Ledger was absent from the event. He also went onto win the Duel King Tournament in the same year, besting Natasha Chapel. Ledger was also absent from this event. The absence from the events last year fueled speculation that because Ledger didn't participate helped his cause in winning both events last year._

_As has been the growing niche for him, Vega once again ignored his detractors and set his eyes on the prize. In a poor display of class, a spectator tried to douse Lamar with soda as he was entering the room to his final match. He was removed immediately._

_But as the match got underway, it started as a one sided affair. Darrin Ledger's Crystal Beast deck swarmed Vega fast, putting him at a monster disadvantage and keeping him from initiating his more strategic and signature weakening of his opponents monster. But it didn't stay that way all day. Vega played brilliantly and managed to climb back from a hole to edge Ledger out and win the game. _

_Ledger was clearly disheartened after the duel. "I let that duel go. I had it...and I let it slip."_

"_Darrin deserves every bit of infamy he's got around him." Vega said of the man. But in a comment that seemed to irk a nearby Ledger, he said, "Anyone could see it. He had me in the early going. But I kept my head in the game and still won the duel. Like I said, one of us had to lose."_

_Lamar Vega, with this win, became the first duelist to win the C.G. Invitational twice in a row and the first to win it a second time, period. He's proven to his fans and critics alike that his name deserves inclusion in talks of whom the best of duelists may be. With his current record of going undefeated in tournament play, he may hope to extend that trend going into the Duel King Tournament later this year. But for now, he seems content to savor this victory. _

* * *

><p><strong>Darrin Ledger, Lamar Vega, Natasha Chapel on a collision course.<strong>

_Months ago, Darrin Ledger and Lamar Vega were respectful of each other and each had reasons to be called one of the best duelists around. But there's only room at the top of that mountain for one and these two do not have any intentions to share. _

_The first time the two of them met was in the C.G. Invitational where Vega beat Ledger to win that event. But it was a comment from Vega that seemed to spark a debate between the two. Ever since, the two superstars have not had very kind words for the other in whatever forum they maybe in. It's become a heated rivalry._

_And once again, it will take center stage. Both Lamar Vega and Darrin Ledger will be entering the Duel King Tournament this year seeking to not only topple last year's runner-up Natasha Chapel but each other in their path to become the North American champion. Her name has not been mentioned, but aside from Vega and Ledger, she is the clear front-runner to take either of them down. She came close to defeating Vega in the previous year's tournament and had been sighted at the C.G. Invitational studying both Vega and Ledger should she have to play against them. There haven't been any talks about them changing from the decks that they've shown thus far. Lamar has been a stalwart about his Red-Eyes 'Power Deck', Ledger has shown absolute mastery of Crystal Beasts and Natasha is making a name for herself with her Shining Flare Wingman deck that also incorporates a few other Elemental Hero fusions. Each has its strengths and weaknesses to the other's deck which has made theories of whose is superior. For example, Vega's method of weakening monsters easily make Natasha's unfused monsters very suspect while her own signature monster, Shining Flare Wingman is more than a match for just about any Red-Eyes incarnation and could end the duel with one attack._

_It's sure to be a wild ride this year at the Duel King Tournament._

* * *

><p>Fame is something, Natasha was learning, that's hard to get used to. It's expected to go into a social place and maybe be recognized by a couple of people that have seen her duel before and know her face. Its something altogether different when they know your age, some of your likes and dislikes and quote your quotes. At first it was flattering, then it became annoying but now it settled into something like acceptance.<p>

She'd used that fame for something that she'd found she wanted to do and didn't realize it. It happened not too long after she'd finished playing in her first Duel King Tournament and was taking Ginger up on her offer to be taught how to play Yu-Gi-Oh! by her and Janet. Interestingly, Penny also had decided to learn as well.

* * *

><p>"Alright, quick little pop quiz girls…" Natasha was saying. She'd brought her two friends into her hotel room and had sat them down at a small desk that was used for business travelers to set their laptops and stuff onto. Natasha turned it into a small teachers tool to use on Ginger and Penny. Janet sat nearby with a usually stern expression across her face.<p>

"Aw, boo. I'll go to school if I want a pop quiz…" Ginger complained.

"I'm with Ginger, this is stupid." Penny whined.

Natasha paused a moment and looked at the two girls. A year had passed and made them a year older but not wiser. She'd turned a year older to 21 but didn't feel wiser, but just…older.

"So would you rather have Jan go ahead-" Natasha began with a small smirk.

Both Ginger and Penny snapped to immediate attention as if they could feel lasers pointed at their foreheads coming from Janet's eyes. Their last stunt that they pulled put them in Janet's doghouse. Probably for a very long time.

"No, no!"

"We'll take the quiz!"

"It's fine! Isn't it!"

"We love quizzes!"

They rattled off a couple other excuses while they tried to switch between begging Natasha not to put Janet in charge of them and looking to Janet for sympathy. If Janet could, Natasha imagined she'd grow a set of fangs and claws just to keep them in check even more than now. "You know, a lot of people are not nearly as nice as Janet was when they find out their deck got anted up for a duel." Natasha sassed, wagging a accusing finger at the two girls.

"Yeah," Janet mumbled with her voice low. While Penny and Ginger were seated at the desk, she was sitting on the bed cross-legged. "Most people I know would…kill their friends for that…"

Penny and Ginger looked down at their laps like scolded children, which, they technically were. Becoming 16 hadn't changed them at all, but turning 17 hadn't altered Janet a lot either. Well, maybe in some ways, which was evidenced by the twitch she'd had over her right eye when that topic came up.

Natasha shook her head with a smirk as she laid some cards down on the table face down. When Janet had learned her deck was gone, she was positively paranoid. But when she found out Penny had taken it as a bet for a duel against two boys she'd been chasing after? Wow. Natasha had never seen Janet that incensed. Of course, eventually, she got the deck back after Natasha had learned of it and won it back. And Janet did forgive them for it, but she'd made it a point to remain sore about it if only to keep the two from her cards again. Natasha knew, and Janet had said as much to her confidentially, that she couldn't stay mad at them. But it was _too_ useful a tactic in keeping them in line to throw away!

"Alright, so you guys know the game well enough to play out a few duels. You do remember the three forbidden cards in the game right?"

"The God Cards." they said in unison.

"Yep. So this little quiz is gonna let me and Jan see how deep you know the game."

"What's the point of that?" Ginger asked sincerely, still none too thrilled with being quizzed. "I mean, are we supposed to know all the cards in the game?"

"No," Janet said from behind them. "But you ought to know as much as possible so you're prepared."

"And," Natasha added. "So you can think of ways to maybe counter what those cards do with your own deck."

"You mean think on our feet?" Penny gathered, to which Natasha nodded. "So what's the quiz?"

"It starts now." Janet said and both Penny and Ginger turned to look at her. She put on a more placid expression than the lady vampire in the bedroom look she was giving earlier. "So you guys know about the Level monsters right. Like Winged Kuriboh LV 10 and such. I want you to list off all the Level monsters you can think of. There's 10 in all."

"Well, there's Horus the Black Flame Dragon…" Ginger began.

Penny cut in saying, "There's Armed Dragon…Allure Queen…"

Janet had held up ten fingers and as they counted down correct answers, she tucked them back into her palm. Together, the two additionally called out Winged Kuriboh, Dark Mimic, Ultimate Insect, Silent Swordsman, Silent Magician and Dark Lucious. That was nine monsters with one more remaining. Janet held up one more finger and wagged it at them like a tantalizing treat. Then, at once, they both snapped their fingers and said at the same time, "Mystic Swordsman!"

Janet just gave them a nod of her head and smirked. "Very good. Now c'mere."

Ginger and Penny tentatively stepped away from their chairs and approached Janet like a mouse might approach a sleeping lioness; unsure of when they'd be pounced on. But Janet didn't move, she just leaned forward with that same smirk on her face, legs crossed and her hands behind her. When they'd gotten to the end of the bed, Janet whipped her hands from behind her. She saw Ginger actually wince as if she'd get hit but Janet's hands stopped well short of their bodies. She held a small box within each hand that she offered to the pair.

"What's this?" Penny asked.

"What do they look like, dummy? Booster boxes!" Janet said with a smile.

Both girls took them from Janet while Natasha talked from behind them, sitting in one of the vacated seats. "Janet and I have been teaching you guys all this time, but we completely forgot about something. You really didn't have decks of your own. So call it a kind of 'graduation diploma' from her and I."

Janet stood up from off the bed and turned on the TV. "And so you won't have to go looking for _my_ deck when you want to duel."

Janet's comment was unheard by the two as they almost leapt for joy. They mobbed Natasha while she was sitting and then turned to Janet and despite her fake disdain for them, they tackled her to the ground and all Natasha could see was Janet's legs flinging in the air as the two girls wouldn't let go.

Natasha let her elbow fall on the desk and propped her head up in her hand. _It's been a whole year since we started working with Penny and Ginger. And even though they did some childish things, I think they really want to learn more. It was kinda fun to show them how the game was played like Jamie did for me. Even Janet seemed to get into it after a few weeks. Maybe it's something I should try more often, teaching kids how to play._

Eventually, Ginger and Penny let up on trying to suffocate Janet and turned their attention to the booster boxes they'd received. In actuality, they weren't normal boxes. These had closer to 30 packs in them compared to the 16 in normal boxes. Also, these were mixed from some of the different sets so they offered more variety of different cards instead of getting a bunch from just one particular set. They set themselves on the bed Janet was just sitting on and started ripping into the packs.

Janet had gotten up off the ground and went over to the adjacent chair besides Natasha. "Kids in a candy store…" she said with a smile to the sounds and hoots behind her.

"It's a little different than that." Natasha observed. "More like sharks in a flooded butcher shop."

"Heh, I like your analogy better than mine." Janet said, turning to watch the two trade packs and try to guess their weight like Janet had taught them in order to find rare cards. "Your eye is a lot better for determining talent, I'm just the ok duelist paling around as a teacher's assistant."

"Aw, don't say that!" Natasha chided playfully. "I couldn't have kept them interested without you around. You're the one that made it fun for them, I'm just the boggy old lady that knows the game."

"You ever think about doing with you did for them for others?" Janet asked.

"I was thinking about that to be honest with you, Jan." Natasha said, taking a glance at the TV briefly. "It's something I think I'd like to try. Maybe do like a little school or something…"

Natasha saw Janet shaking her head, "If you ask me, I think you need to make a clan."

Natasha frowned at the idea. "A clan, you say?" Her fair share of time that she'd spent on the internet had turned her off to the idea of clans in a way. There were more than a fair selection of programs available to anyone with a computer allowing them to duel. Either homemade or ones licensed by Upperdeck or whatever. They did what they were made to do and allowed people to duel online. But clans, online ones, reveled in the thing that made the internet so beautiful; the ability to be anonymous. You were known by a handle or nickname and you could say anything or do anything or be any ten different people in cyberspace. Clans were typically snotty and stand-offish, bordering on being vile to other clans and 'newbies'.

"I don't know about that. Is there even a real life clan out there?" Natasha asked.

"I think there is." Penny said, looking over a spread of cards she had over the bedsheet. "Those guys said they were part of D-Light." 'Those guys' meaning the guys Penny and Ginger had anted Janet's deck up against. Natasha, once she had played against them, figured them all to be friends or something, but not really a clan or anything.

"_The results are in!"_

That statement cut Natasha off from answering. The droning TV that Janet had turned on and Natasha had been checking from time to time had tuned into the news that Natasha been waiting for. And as she saw a image of Michael Sinclair, the same man she met a year ago at the end of the Duel King Tournament, standing with a smirking Lamar Vega, she already knew what the news was going to be.

"He won…" she said aloud to herself.

"_Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen! Coming to you live, and that's L-I-V-E with a young man that is fast becoming a household name among duelists around this city, maybe even this country. I'm standing next to Lamar Vega who has just defeated the titan of Yu-Gi-Oh! in Darrin Ledger. Their match, propelled to exuberant heights by their own individual expectations, led to a hotly contested duel where Lamar emerged victorious. Lamar, how do you feel about now?"_

The camera, which was turned to frame both Vega and Sinclair panned to the side slightly to fully capture Vega's face. _"I feel pretty drained to be honest."_

"_Drained is a good word, the two of you poured a lot into what is only a semi-finals duel."_

"_That's why I'm drained. Darrin is no pushover but I didn't come here to be humbled or defeated. I put my all into that game and I'd imagine he did the same."_

"_Now, there's been some bad blood between you two that goes all the way back to last year at the end of the C.G. Invitational. Tell me, with this win today, is there still a rivalry?"_

Vega seemed to think about it for a moment before answering. _"The rivalry really has been pushed way out of proportion. Maybe by the very people that wanted to see us duel. I'm a duelist first and foremost. So as one, and as Darrin would do, you fight for the win. Even if you don't attain it, you should feel a semblance of pride from leaving a game with no regrets. I have tons of respect for a duelist to be able to push me to my limits like he has."_

"_So you think this is the end of the rivalry between you two?"_

"_I'm not done with the game after this, if that's what you mean. And I don't think Darrin is done, either. So we'll see each other again."_

"_This was a highlight game because it featured such powerful duelists. A semi-finals match usually doesn't receive the amount of attention it did. But turning toward the future now, you'll be facing off in yet another rematch with Natasha Chapel in the finals of this year's Duel King Tournament. Now, you managed to defeat her last year, do you feel you can do it again?"_

Vega looked directly into the camera, as if he were trying to look directly at Natasha through it._ "She's a tough opponent and a prime talent. But she's also a duelist, too. I know she didn't come all this way just for us to meet and have a repeat of last year. But I also didn't come all this way to lose either. One's gonna win and one's gonna lose, that's about all I can say with clarity."_

"_And what are your goals?_

Without hesitation,_ "To be the best duelist. The best in the world."_

"_Well, you may be on your way to becoming one of the best duelists there are, period. Tomorrow, we shall find out when you take on the no less talented Natasha Chapel in a rematch for the title of North America's best duelist. Lamar, good luck to you tomorrow and to Miss Chapel, good luck to you as well. Ladies and gentlemen, I sincerely hope you'll join us however you can to watch this duel tomorrow. Thank you and good night."_


End file.
